Tag Archives: Rolex watch

It seems the late Dee Dee Ramone was an unpretentious punk rocker to the core – even at the height of his fame!

During an interview with The Ripple Effect hosts Pope John the Enforcer and RacerX, a listener in the chat room asked, “Did Dee Dee ever get his Rolex?” (The question referred to a scene in the 2004 documentary Ramones: Raw, where the Ramones founder, who passed away in 2002, tries to buy a Rolex watch while on tour in the mid-’80s.)

Marky then launched into this ironic anecdote:

Dee Dee: Preferred cheaper time-keeper.

“Yea, [Dee Dee] did. Fact, he got it in, I think it was Spain. It was called the Sea Dweller [which cost about $3,000].

“Then a week later, he saw a $40 Cassio and he said, ‘I like that better than the Rolex.’ I go, ‘You wanna sell me yours?’ Then he said, ‘Yea. Here you go – six hundred dollars.’”

Marky also talks about recording The Ramones’ 1980 album End of the Century with legendary pro- ducer Phil Spector – who was arrested in 2003 for the fatal shooting actress Lana Clarkson, but acquitted four years later.

“We went to L.A. We went into his mansion. He owned guns. He had a license – but he never pointed anything,” says Marky.

“But there was another time where Dee Dee and Tommy [Ramone] and [tour manager] Monte [Melnick] went to his, ah, I think his house. And they said he pulled out a gun.

“But when I was there in the studio, there were no guns. He wouldn’t pull out a gun because if it went off, it would kill one of us and then he wouldn’t have a band to produce!”